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25 years of UN promises to elevate and strengthen Palestinian women’s voices in peacebuilding have failed, says Oxfam

UN member states have wasted 25 years of potential by largely ignoring the crucial role that Palestinian women and girls should have played in building peace in the occupied Palestinian territory (OPT), says Oxfam

In a new report, ‘Arming Injustice with Impunity’, published in the wake of the October 31 anniversary marking 25 years since the UN Security Council Resolution 1325 was adopted and the Women, Peace and Security (WPS) Agenda, Oxfam says that the UN’s initiative has not only failed Palestinian women, but has reinforced the status quo by failing to confront the root causes of violence: Israel’s illegal occupation and militarization, and the international
community’s complicity in selling arms and failing to hold Israel to account.

The WPS Agenda calls for women’s full participation in peace processes, protection from violence, and gender-responsive approaches to conflict prevention and recovery. While widely endorsed, its implementation has often been narrowed and inconsistent, particularly in contexts of prolonged occupation and systemic injustice.

Oxfam’s report, based on research conducted through consultation with partners and specialists in the field, outlines the devastating impacts upon women of Israel’s illegal occupation. In Gaza, almost 70,000 Palestinians have been killed and over 170,000 injured since October 2023, with women and children making up the majority of the casualties. Ninety percent of the population has been displaced, with Gaza left in ruins. Women face disproportionate burdens from the
collapse of infrastructure, healthcare systems, denial of maternal care, and increased exposure to trauma, starvation, and gender-based violence.

These harms extend beyond the battlefield: Palestinian women in detention have also been subjected to systematic abuse, including sexual and gender-based violence, which UN investigations have found may amount to war crimes and crimes against humanity.

In the West Bank, armed settler attacks – often backed by Israeli forces – have led to sexual harassment, threats of rape, and destruction of homes and schools. Women and girls live in fear, leading to school dropouts, miscarriages, and long-term psychological harm. Women human rights defenders face detention and repression, while internal patriarchal structures, exacerbated by militarization and unlawful occupation, further marginalize women’s
participation in political and public life.

Despite these challenges, Palestinian women-led civil society organizations continue to play key roles in providing education, protection support, and advocacy. However, the report criticizes the international community’s failure to uphold the WPS Agenda’s core commitments. States continuing to sell arms and militarily cooperating with Israel undermine their global commitments to women’s rights, gender equality and peace.

While the Palestinian Authority (PA) has adopted National Action Plans (NAPs) on WPS, their implementation is hindered by political fragmentation, lack of funding and lack of political will.

Originally envisioned to challenge power structures and centre women in peacebuilding, the WPS agenda in the OPT has been narrowed by militarized approaches and political fragmentation, that overlook the root causes that prevent full gender equality, protection, participation and justice, Oxfam says.

Oxfam believes that the WPS Agenda should return to its core: confronting militarism, enforcing international law, and prioritizing gender justice. For Palestinian women, peace requires dismantling Israel’s unlawful occupation, restoring justice and accountability and ensuring their
voices are central in shaping a just and lasting future.

For further details contact: [email protected]

Killer facts:

  • Almost 70,000 Palestinians killed and 170,000 injured in Gaza since October 2023 — the majority being women and children.

  • With 90% of Gaza’s population forcibly displaced, with no safe zones remaining, women face trauma, humiliation, and increased vulnerability to GBV.

  • Healthcare collapse: hospitals bombed, health workers killed, and maternal care denied.

  • Armed settlers commit gendered crimes including sexual harassment and threats of rape.

  • Women human rights defenders face arbitrary detention without charge or trial.

  • Civil society groups provide vital support but face severe restrictions under occupation.

  • The WPS Agenda has failed to address militarization and occupation in the oPt.

  • In a context of genocide and unlawful occupation, arms-transfers to Israel have played a part in undermining global commitments to gender equality and peace.

Notes to Editors:

The full report, Arming Injustice with Impunity: How Support for Israel’s illegal occupation and militarization undermines States’ commitments to gender equality and the WPS Agenda, is here

Another recently published Oxfam report on WPS, Beyond Rhetoric – Feminist Leadership for a Transformative Women, Peace and Security Agenda at 25 is here:

The Women, Peace and Security (WPS) Agenda was established by United Nations Security Council Resolution 1325 in 2000. It was the first resolution to formally recognize the unique impact of conflict on women and girls, and the critical role they play in peacebuilding and conflict prevention. The agenda is built around four key pillars: prevention, protection, participation, and relief and recovery.

Palestinian women face what has been described as ‘double jeopardy’: the combined impact of Israel’s prolonged military occupation and entrenched patriarchal laws and norms within Palestinian society. Discriminatory legal frameworks—many of which predate 1967—continue to restrict women’s rights in areas such as marriage, mobility, access to healthcare, and political participation. These are further compounded by the extreme challenges presented by Israel’s illegal occupation, including violence, displacement, and restrictions on movement. One particularly harrowing dimension is the treatment of Palestinian women in detention. According to a March 2025 report by the UN Commission of Inquiry, Israeli detention practices are marked by widespread and systematic abuse, including sexual and gender-based violence, which has intensified significantly since 7 October 2023. Women and girls have reported being subjected to forced nudity, threats of sexual violence including rape, and physical assault of a sexual nature during interrogations and searches. The Commission concluded that such acts amount to war crimes—including outrages upon personal dignity and inhuman treatment—and crimes against
humanity, including torture. It further found that these abuses reflect an intentional policy aimed at humiliating and degrading Palestinian detainees through sexual, reproductive, and other forms of gender-based violence, observed across multiple facilities and transit locations.

Contact information:

For more information, please contact: [email protected]

Simon Watts Was Right About Pacific Climate Support at COP30. Now We Must Deliver.

At COP30 in Brazil, New Zealand has joined other higher-income countries in reaffirming their pledge to triple climate funding for lower-income countries by 2035. Oxfam Aotearoa is calling on the New Zealand Government to make good on that promise to our Pacific neighbours.

Climate Change Minister Simon Watts told COP30: ‘In the Pacific, climate change is not a distant threat; it is a lived reality.’ Minister Watts went on to praise New Zealand’s international climate finance programme, saying: ‘we provide high-quality, grants-based, accessible, partner-responsive climate support, with over half going to adaptation action.’

But with funding for New Zealand’s international climate programme running out in December 2025, Oxfam Aotearoa is calling on the New Zealand Government to explain how this promise will be delivered.

“Minister Watts is right, New Zealand provides high-quality funding for Pacific communities to adapt to the lived reality of climate change. Let’s keep up the good work.” said Nick Henry, Oxfam Aotearoa’s Advocacy and Policy Lead.

“Oxfam Aotearoa is glad to hear Minister Watts reaffirm New Zealand’s promise to stand with the Pacific by funding essential climate adaptation projects. With only a month to go until the current programme runs out, we look forward to a further announcement on how this promise will be funded.”

Notes for editors:

Oxfam Aotearoa’s recent report Pacific Resilience: How funding for climate action strengthens our region shows the positive difference that climate funding from New Zealand has made since this support was increased from 2022.

Contact information:

For more information contact:

Rachel Schaevitz, Head of Communication, Media, & Advocacy: [email protected]

Arming Injustice with Impunity – How support for Israel’s illegal occupation and militarization undermines States’ commitments to gender equality and the WPS Agenda

Twenty-five years after the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) adopted the Women, Peace and Security (WPS) Agenda, women in the occupied Palestinian territory (OPT) have no peace and no security. The agenda promised a new era of elevating women’s voices in conflict and peacebuilding, a transformative vision of gender equality and feminist peace. But the reality for Palestinian women and girls has been daily, brutal violence for decades under Israel’s prolonged illegal occupation, culminating in the genocide we are witnessing today. Indeed, the UN Special Rapporteur on violence against women described the situation in Gaza as an unfolding ‘femi-genocide’ due to the crimes inflicted on women and girls by Israeli forces.

The briefing paper highlights how the WPS Agenda has failed to confront two major obstacles to peace for Palestinian women: the arming of Israel and militarization; and the unlawful occupation of the OPT which, sustained by international support and a lack of accountability, continues to erode Palestinian women and girls’ rights, protection, and participation in political and public life. It notes that the WPS agenda has at times been understood in relatively narrow terms and calls for States signed up to the agenda to take a wider lens and address the broader political, military and legal context that disproportionately impacts Palestinian women and girls.

Notes to Editors:

Download Arming Injustice with Impunity report here.

Contact information:

For more information, please contact: [email protected]

COP30 falls short, offering a ‘spark of hope but far more heartbreak’ – Oxfam

In response to the outcome of COP30, Oxfam Brasil Executive Director Viviana Santiago said: 

“COP30 offered a spark of hope but far more heartbreak, as the ambition of global leaders continues to fall short of what is needed for a livable planet. People from the Global South arrived in Belém with hope, seeking real progress on adaptation and finance, but rich nations refused to provide crucial adaptation finance. This failure leaves the communities at the frontlines of the climate crisis exposed to the worst impacts and with few options for their survival. 

“The stark hypocrisy of the richest nations is heartbreaking: wealthy countries speak of phasing out fossil fuels even as they plan major oil and gas expansion. A truly just transition requires those who built their fortunes on fossil fuels to move first and fastest – and provide finance in the form of grants, not loans, so frontline communities can do the same. Instead, the poorest countries already in debt are being told to transition faster, with fewer funds.  

“The spark of hope lies in the proposed Belém Action Mechanism, which puts workers’ rights and justice at the center of the shift away fossil fuels. But without financing from rich countries, the just energy transition risks becoming stalled in many countries.   

“Our greatest strength lies in people power. No other COP agreement has ever emphasized human rights as strongly as this one. Indigenous Peoples, Afro-descendant Quilombola communities, women land rights defenders and civil society across Brazil and around the world continue to demand true climate justice. Their voices are another reason for hope – and we will keep pressing governments, the fossil fuel industry, and the super-rich for financing and action until climate justice becomes reality.” 

Notes to editors

Contact information:

For more details, please contact: [email protected]

G20: South Africa defies geopolitical bullying and puts inequality emergency on global agenda, says Oxfam

In reaction to the G20 communique, Oxfam International Head of Inequality Policy and Advocacy, Max Lawson said:

“This is the first ever meeting of world leaders, in history, where the inequality emergency was put at the centre of the agenda. This is testament to South Africa’s leadership – one that put the billions before the billionaires.” 

“South Africa has set an example to the world in ensuring the G20 stood firm and collectively agreed on a leader’s declaration – defending multilateralism – despite U.S. strong-arming.  

“Nevertheless, it is disappointing that rich countries and their allies watered down the communique, clearly spooked by the ghost of President Trump. The communique does not reflect the clear momentum worldwide for taxing the super-rich. 

“As the U.S. takes the helm of the G20, never has the choice between a world of global oligarchy or equality been clearer. Inequality is a political choice. Taxing the ultra-rich, addressing the debt and climate crises and investing in a fairer future are choices that can and must be made by countries – irrespective of who is in charge of the G20. 

“An immediate step that all countries must take is to support the creation of a new global Independent Panel on Inequality – a plan that South Africa, Spain and multiple countries now champion.” 

Notes to editors

Oxfam experts are available for comment.

See here for photos and footage of our G20 Big Heads stunt. 

Read Oxfam’s curtain raiser ahead of the G20 with the headline statistic: G20 billionaires’ fortunes rise by $2.2 trillion in just one year, more than enough to lift everyone above the global poverty line.

Oxfam is calling for G20 countries to:

  • Fairly tax the super-rich. G20 leaders must continue the legacy from the previous G20 and tax extreme wealth.

  • Support the creation of a panel on inequality to provide scientific evidence and recommendations on how to tackle inequality. 

  • Tackle the spiralling debt crisis. More than half of low-income countries are facing or at risk of defaulting on their debt. The G20’s plan to tackle debt has failed. 

The G20 is a meeting bringing together the 20 largest economies to address pressing global challenges and foster economic cooperation. South Africa, the host country, held the G20 in Johannesburg and made tackling inequality a core theme. 

South Africa has commissioned the first ever G20 analysis of inequality to advise leaders. The “G20 Extraordinary Committee of Independent Experts on Global Inequality”, led by Professor Joseph Stiglitz, identifies an “inequality emergency”. 

Read op-ed in Financial Times by Brazilian President, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, South African President Cyril Ramaphosa and Prime Minister, Pedro Sánchez. In the op-ed, they support the creation of an International Panel on Inequality. 

Contact information:

For more details, please contact: [email protected]

“Keep Up the Good Work” – Oxfam Aotearoa Calls on Government to Renew Climate Finance Commitment

As world leaders prepare to gather for global climate talks, Oxfam Aotearoa has launched a new report showing the positive difference that climate funding from New Zealand has made since the support was boosted from 2022.’

Oxfam in the Pacific’s Climate Justice Lead, Lote Rusaqoli, said:

“Aotearoa New Zealand has long been a leader on the global climate stage, setting the benchmark for other wealthy nations by providing all of its climate finance as grants and not loans – a move that has been incredibly beneficial for Pacific Islanders who continue to feel the worst of the climate crisis. As we approach 2026, we urge Aotearoa New Zealand to renew their climate finance commitments to help boost the Pacific’s resilience to disasters, tackle poverty, and reinforce its leadership on climate justice.”

Oxfam Aotearoa Executive Director, Jason Myers, said:

“In 2021, the New Zealand government announced its biggest climate finance contribution to date. This has enabled communities all over the Pacific to maintain resilience in the face of the climate crisis. With no further funding for climate finance announced in the 2024 or 2025 budgets, critical projects have had to begin closing out. Keeping our promise to fund climate action has become urgent and the New Zealand government must act now to renew funding. Pacific livelihoods depend on it.”

Report author, Oxfam Aotearoa’s Climate Justice Lead, Nick Henry, said:

“New Zealand’s funding for climate action has benefited tens of thousands of people across the Pacific, but runs out at the end of next month. Our message to Government is simple: we need to keep up the good work.

New Zealand must keep our promise to help our Pacific neighbours, who have done nothing to cause the climate crisis, but are already feeling the worst of the effects.

Our report shows how New Zealand’s climate funding has generated enormous goodwill and positive relationships with governments and communities in the Pacific and beyond. If we continue the trend of ramping up funding for climate action, New Zealand could be on track to meet our fair share of the assistance promised to lower-income countries, including here in the Pacific.”

NOTES FOR EDITORS:

  • Full report: Pacific Resilience: How funding for climate action strengthens our region link

  • The report includes new calculations, based on data published by MFAT, showing that New Zealand’s climate finance programme has exceeded its targets to deliver the majority of funding in the Pacific, with at least 50% supporting adaptation to climate change. The report analyses New Zealand’s climate finance since 2022 and shows that:

    • 59% of programme has been delivered in the Pacific.

    • 87% supports adaptation.

    •  57% has a significant gender-equality component.

Contact information:

For more information contact:

Nick Henry, Climate Justice Lead, Oxfam Aotearoa: [email protected]